Tick Tick Boom
by WritingWings
Summary: Just a little insert in Tick Tick Tick... when Castle spends the night in Beckett's apartment. Beckett may seem a little out of character, but I feel like she may show her vulnerable side to Castle a little in the situation. And yes, I know the actually title is Tick Tick Tick...Boom, but Tick Tick Boom is the name of a play and I'm a theatre nerd, so... Disclaimer: so not mine


Tick Tick Boom

"But if I see that doorknob turn, I will have you know, Mr. Castle, that I sleep with a gun," Beckett warned before turning to head for her bedroom.

"Understood," Castle smiled.

As she walked away, Kate could hear him shuffling on the couch. In her room, she placed her mother's ring on its chain in the box on her dresser. She wiggled out her jeans and pulled on soft cotton leggings. Suddenly, she was exhausted and the bed looked very welcoming indeed.

Just as she was reaching that delicious brink of unconsciousness, a noise made her stiffen. It sounded like... and then she smiled. Because it was Castle snoring. World-famous mystery novelist Richard Castle was snoring on her couch. _She wants him_.

That thought wiped the smile right off her face. She shouldn't want him, cannot want him. He was a self-centered, egotistical, nine year old on a sugar rush. _Yet,_ she thought,_ he hasn't been that so much recently. He came back to apologize to me for looking into my mom's case and he was right there with me during the Jack Coonan case._

Suddenly, her bed felt much too big and her soft pajamas made her feel vulnerable. She wanted him here, with her. Wanted him to wrap her in his arms and wanted to feel his heartbeat under her ear. She laid there in the dark for a bit. Castle snored softly again.

She pushed back the sheets and padded out to the living room. There was Castle, sound asleep, lying on his side. She could curl up with him right there, maneuver herself into his arms. He probably wouldn't even wake up. She knew he was a sound sleeper from all the times she'd called him in the wee hours to ride out to a crime scene. She shouldn't. She knew she shouldn't, but she did.

She got comfortable and heaved a large sigh. That made him stir.

"Kate?" he asked sleepily.

"Hey," she whispered. "I couldn't sleep."

"Distracted by the thought of your ruggedly handsome partner?" he joked.

She smiled but quickly sobered.

"Kate? What's wrong?" It unnerved her sometimes, how he could read her moods.

"I was lonely. The bed felt too big," she mumbled into his shirt. "Come to bed with me, Castle."

That got his attention. She could feel him stiffen. "Uh, Detective Beckett, I think-," Castle stuttered and she had to grin because for once he was speechless.

"Nothing like that, Castle. It's just..." she trailed off.

"Just what?" he prompted.

She looked him in the eye and decided to take a leap. "I've always been alone and it never bothered me. I liked it that way. But now...now there's a guy out there gunning down innocent people in the name of Nikki Heat. What if just dedicating his murders to me isn't enough? What if he comes after me? And I'm alone?"

"Oh, Kate," Castle held her tighter. "You know I'll always be here for you, whatever you need."

"I know, Castle. Thank you. Right now, I just need you to be here. But," she extracted herself from Castle's embrace, "this would be much more comfortable in the bed. Come on," she took his hand and pulled him toward her room. "No funny business," she warned in her cop voice.

"Absolutely none," Castle affirmed.

They slid between the sheets and she curled up against his side. She could feel his heartbeat under her ear and his arm was around her shoulders, his fingers gently teasing the ends of her hair. Before she drifted off, she briefly wondered what it would be like to fall asleep in his arms every night.

When she woke up, the bed felt too big again. She stretched out her arm and her fingers found the depression in the mattress where Castle slept. The sheets were still slightly warm and she allowed her fingers to stray across the dent for a minute, but he was gone. She wondered if maybe he sneaked back out to the couch.

She slipped out of the bed and into the living room. The couch was empty, but there were noises and smells coming from the kitchen. She looked in and Castle was standing at her stove.

"You're still here. And you're making pancakes," she said, as if this was a dream and not real.

"Yeah, I was hoping for bacon and eggs, but your eggs are expired and your bacon has something furry on it," Castle replied, indicating her refrigerator with the spatula.

"Yeah, well, I mostly order in," Kate explained.

"Figured that by the Styrofoam temple you got going on in your fridge. Coffee's brewed. Think your filter's broken though, I'll order you a new one later," Castle took the plate of pancakes to the table.

"Looks like you thought of everything," Kate said, secretly impressed and flattered that Castle would do all this for her.

"Except the paper," Castle said, snapping his fingers and heading for the door.

"Castle, we don't have time for the paper. There's a body out there that I gotta find," Kate said, nevertheless pouring a cup of coffee for herself.

Castle jumped back from the door and shouted in surprise as the body of a young woman with four gunshot wounds in her chest fell into her apartment. "Looks like it found you," Castle said, looking up to meet her eyes.

Kate stood frozen for a moment and then she was all cop. "I'll call the boys and Agent Shaw. Have them get CSU over here," she said, grabbing her phone from the bedroom.

Pressing the phone to her ear, she waited for Jordan to pick up. "Hello, Agent Shaw. It's Kate Beckett. We found the body," Kate listened for a minute. "Okay, yes. Okay. Thank you. Bye.

"She's getting the team together and CSU. They'll be here in about 15 minutes," Kate summarized her conversation for Castle. "Castle, when they get here..." she began.

"I know what they're gonna think," Castle interrupted. "Just tell them the truth. Nothing happened."

"But Castle, something did happen. You spent the night at my apartment. They're going to think..."

"No one has to know, Kate," Castle interrupted. "As far as they're concerned, I slept on the couch."

A smile broke out on Kate's face. "Thank you, Castle."

"Always."


End file.
